by Rev. Dr. Denyse Barnes, Director of Justice and Compassion EMT

Following the historic General Conference this year, the General Commission on Archives and History has announced an effort to compile a history of LGBTQIA+ people and their experiences as United Methodists over the last 52 years.

After the Special Called General Conference of 2019, when I was appointed to Hollywood UMC, we produced a book, “Voices from the Rainbow: which contained stories, poems, reflections, and artwork of healing and harm from the LGBTQIA+ members of that church.

To that end, and after discussing this with the Commission, we are launching a much bigger project, “Voices from the Cal-Pac Rainbow.”

This is your opportunity to have your story told, published, and logged into the archives of the United Methodist Church. A copy of the book will be delivered to the commission and further copies will be produced for sale as a fund raiser for LGBTQIA+ ministries of the California-Pacific Annual Conference.

Please send your submission to Rev. Dr. Denyse Barnes dbarnes@calpacumc.org by November 1 2024 in order to have them included in the book.